And She's Back

After Sunday's crash and Monday's screaming bone pain, Tuesday was more tolerable.  My legs and lower back still hurt pretty darn bad, but it was tolerable and I could work.  My appetite was back, and I not only ate lunch, but also ate like crazy last night.

We're going to Mom's today for the fourth, so I'm glad to be feeling better.  I made pasta salad last night, and Kevin and I put together a fruit salad this morning.  We'll do hot dogs and brats, to minimize the time Kevin spends at the grill in the 100 degree heat.  Mom made a peach cobbler, and I've heard a rumor about potato salad.  Sounds like plenty of food, considering how few people will be there.  It's OK, though.  Leftovers are my friends.

I'm glad I've been keeping a chemo diary of sorts.  It helps me to know what to expect, and it gives me hope to know when my appetite returned last time, etc.  Otherwise, I think it would feel quite depressing during the five days or so that I don't want food.  I still get a headache every day, but it hasn't been as bad.  She said she'd cut the steroids further if this continued, so that will probably happen.  I'm kind of scared for her to do so, though, because the steroids are keeping me from being nauseous.

Oh well.  Like I said before, if a headache is the worst I have to deal with, I consider myself blessed.  I'll take some Advil and go enjoy my day.  We went a bit overboard with fireworks for the girls.  I think it's guilt on my part.  I feel like I've robbed my family of a summer, so I'm spoiling them when I can.  Because we'll have no vacation, no trips, and no amusement parks, I indulge them when an opportunity shows itself.  Eh.  It makes me feel better, ok?

In Search of 40 Hours

The plan is to get 40 hours in at work on my non-chemo weeks.  I had it worked out in my head.  This should be the week that I can do it.  No appointments, no steroids, and no shots.  Why won't my body play along nicely?  LOL

I woke this morning with the alarm, which is a first in a week.  It means I got more sleep than I had been getting lately.  I woke when Monica got home from work, and one other time, but was able to go back to sleep after a while.  This should have made me feel good this morning, but I could tell that something wasn't quite right.  I showered and started getting ready, since my morning shower often fixes things that aren't quite right.

I took my temperature, since I'm supposed to call if it reaches 100.5.  99.7 was the first reading, 99.9 was the second (when I got to work,) and I had a major headache.  I do NOT get headaches, so it was consuming all of my concentration, so I took a couple of Advil.  It knocked the temp down to a normal person's normal (I usually run low, but whatever) and took the edge off the headache.

I got my eight hours in today, but it wasn't a joy ride.  I still claim to be quite blessed by not being nauseous so far.  Most food still doesn't sound good, and when something DOES taste good, I take advantage and eat before it loses it's appeal.  Dinner was great today until I was about 3/4 of the way through, and suddenly it was gross.  LOL  Oh well.  I'll keep buying chicken noodle soup and crackers and be thankful that I can hold it down.  So many people cannot do that while doing chemo. 


I plan to turn in early tonight and wake up tomorrow without this pesky headache.  I've alternated Advil and Tylenol all day and choose not to do this again tomorrow.  I choose not to have a headache.  I choose to feel good tomorrow.  I certainly have a new appreciation for anyone who works all day with a headache.  I have friends who get them frequently, and I cannot imagine.  

I'm Still Alive

I had trouble going to sleep, which I was warned about, and three 3 hours later I was awakened by 65 lbs of dog, wanting out because the neighborhood dogs were going nuts.  I did not kill him, but it was tempting.  It took forever to get back to sleep, so I think I got five hours of so, total.  The last of that time was AFTER Kevin woke me up and told me it was time to get up.

Yup, I was late.  Only ten minutes, so it wasn't too bad.  I walked around with a foggy, half-tired feeling, but wasn't sick.  I also wasn't the least bit hungry.  I ate a few crackers to take my medication with, and had a handful of animal crackers around noon.  I still wasn't sick, but I was NOT hungry.  This caused some concern from coworkers, but I won't blow away in the wind anytime soon.  LOL

I left earlier than intended, because I simply ran out of steam.  I had to stop by the hospital for my Neulasta shot.  I'll always get one on the day after chemo.  It helps boost my white blood cell count back up.  It can also cause bone pain, but I'm taking Claritin, which some people say helps, and I can always take Tylenol or Advil.  We'll see if anything is needed.

Tonight, I figured I should really make myself eat something of more substance.   I still wasn't hungry, but I made a can of chicken noodle soup and it tasted good.  Nothing strong sounds good.  This is so not-me.  I even smelled the fried stuff at the deli at WalMart and it didn't smell good.  I can ALWAYS go for some potato wedges.  :)

Anyway, my butt refuses to leave this chair, but I am not feeling sick at all.  I got some mild heartburn a couple of times earlier in the day, but a couple of Tums fixed me right up.  I hope to get up on time tomorrow, and work a decent amount.  Here's hoping!